SBS extends Family

The Family Law premiered on Facebook

Australian pubcaster SBS has commissioned a second series of its first locally produced multicultural family comedy.

NBCUniversal’s Matchbox Pictures will produce another six episodes of The Family Law, which will follow teenager Benjamin Law (Trystan Go) and his dysfunctional Chinese/Australian family as they embark on new careers and fresh romances.

Created and written by Benjamin Law and based on his memoir of the same name, the first series premiered in January and drew a healthy average national audience of 417,000 in the five mainland capitals.

It was the first local scripted show to premiere on Facebook before its terrestrial debut, attracting 1.1 million views. The series had 1.06 million chapter views (defined as each programme segment between the ads) on SBS On Demand, the second highest total this year behind Vikings.

Marshall Heald, SBS director of TV and online content, said: “As well as being laugh-out-loud hilarious, season one of The Family Law was also poignant and heartfelt. On one level it appeared the story of a family who was different – an Asian-Australian family – but at its heart it’s a universal story of any normal Australian family grappling with the challenges of life, love, friendships and teenage angst.”

Benjamin Law said: “One of the most satisfying things about season one was seeing how many audience members – Asian and non-Asian Australian alike – felt their own families were finally reflected back at them. We’re excited to be putting a 90% Asian-Australian cast on TV again and picking right up from where we left the Laws.”

Screen Australia and Screen Queensland are among the investors in the show, for which NBCUniversal International handles overseas sales. Filming of the second season will begin in Queensland later this year ahead of the premiere in 2017.

Screen Australia head of production Sally Caplan said: “Season one was the perfect balance of laughs and heart. It really resonated with audiences and we hope that its popularity will encourage more diverse stories on our screens.”